Manufacturing orders define the product you wish to build, the resources required, and when you wish to produce the product. They also designate when you wish to produce the product. In addition, they can contain information about work orders and routings that are related to that manufacturing order.
When it is time to actually produce the product, you then inform Odoo of each of the products produced and your manufacturing order changes to a status of Complete. In a typical workflow, your raw materials are moved out of the inventory, and your finished product is added into your inventory.
After a product has been produced and has been put into the inventory, it can be packaged and delivered to the customer. Depending on the specific manufacturing environment, a product may not even sit in a physical inventory location at all and instead may be shipped almost immediately to the customer. Meanwhile in another industry, you...